Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for operating a respiration device and a respiration device having at least one respiration unit for generating an airflow for respiration and having at least one monitoring unit. The monitoring unit is used to detect at least one respiration parameter and to classify events in the respiration on the basis of monitoring of the respiration parameter.
Discussion of Background Information
In the case of respiration devices, it is often advantageous if the possibility exists for recognizing respiratory disturbances during respiration. On the one hand, this enables monitoring of the efficiency of the respiration and, on the other hand, primary and secondary illnesses can be recognized better.
One form of such a respiratory disturbance is so-called Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CS respiration). CS respiration is frequently induced by defective respiratory regulation. The trigger or primary illness in this case is frequently cardiac insufficiency. CS respiration is characterized by alternating phases, which merge softly into one another, of hypoventilation (hypopnea and apnea) and hyperventilation. A relatively brief respiratory arrest can frequently also follow the shallowest breaths. The breaths then increasingly deepen thereafter.
An array of methods and devices are known in the prior art, which enable recognition of CS respiration during respiration. For example, EP 1 867 227 A2 describes CS recognition on the basis of a peak in the spectrogram, the flow, and apnea/hypopnea recognition. In addition, the measure is used for the steepness of the rebound of the respiration after hypoventilation. EP 2 421 435 A1 recognizes CS respiration on the basis of an oximeter signal via the length and the rebound of the saturation. WO 2013/110 136 recognizes CS respiration on the basis of a graph of the cycle lengths, which are used in the course of event recognition. CS recognition is performed in WO 2009/118 737 by means of determination of the start and end of apneas, calculation of time offsets between the apneas, and subsequent generation of an output on the basis of the multiple of the cycle lengths. The entire disclosures of the documents mentioned above are incorporated by reference herein.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to have available a respiration device and a method for operating a respiration device which enable reliable and uncomplicated recognition of CS respiration.